Method and apparatus for payment retrieval and review collection

ABSTRACT

A method for conducting a review including the step of detecting a payment request from a vendor; generating a review based on the payment request; and, transmitting a reference to the review to a customer, wherein the reference provides a link to retrieve the review. A system for performing the method is also described.

CROSS-REFERENCE INFORMATION

The present invention is a continuation-in-part of patent applicationSer. No. 10/083,726, entitled “An Online Marketplace For Moving andRelocation Services,” filed on Oct. 19, 2001, and currently pending, thecontents of which is fully incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a payment and review systemfor an online marketplace in a computer network environment, and moreparticularly, to a system for payment retrieval by vendors for renderedservices and review of customers who received the services.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Typically, a customer pays for service after the service is rendered.For example, a service provider such as a mover, a handyman, a plumberor an electrician will provide service for a customer at the customer'slocation. At the completion of the service, or job, the customer willpay the service provider, also referred to herein as a vendor. The basicservice and payment transaction is straightforward. However, as thetransaction is completed as soon as the customer pays the vendor, thereshould be further incentive for either party to engage in furthercommunications. Typically, unless a customer has received eitherextremely good or extremely poor service from the vendor, that customerhas little motivation to provide feedback about the services thecustomer received from the vendor.

Although feedback from customers is important for vendors, who use it toimprove their services, having customer feedback is especially importantin online marketplaces, where customers can select from a variety ofvendors. The online marketplace is typically operated by a third party(i.e., an entity other than the vendor or customer), who receives a feefor each transaction between a customer and a vendor. The moretransactions that occur in the marketplace, the more fees the thirdparty receives. In order to continue to build goodwill with customers,the operator of the online marketplace would like to provide a systemthrough which any customer that uses the marketplace can help to ensurehimself/herself to have a good experience in that the vendor chosen bythe customer provides an expected level of service.

One method for matching customer expectation with vendor capabilities isto implement a feedback system on the online marketplace where acustomer can evaluate a particular vendor by reviewing feedback from theprevious customers of the vendor. For example, in the case of emove.com,which is website operated by eMove, Inc. that provides an onlinemarketplace for moving services, a vendor can be evaluated by thefeedback provided by its previous customers. The feedback occurs afterthe vendor has provided the services.

As the customer who is moving is typically more concerned about theactual move, where a multitude of tasks need to be completed, thanfilling out reviews, providing a mechanism to facilitate feedbacksubmission is a challenge. Most likely, if the customer has a computer,it is inaccessible as it is being moved itself, dramatically reducingthe likelihood of the customer providing feedback for a vendor that hasprovided services as it requires the customer to seek out Internetaccess. Moreover, requiring a customer to “login” by rememberingusernames or passwords assigned before the move when returning to theonline marketplace to respond to a review after the move adds anadditional layer of complication that makes the review processinconvenient to complete.

Conversely, vendors are interested in being paid for their services assoon as they have provided them, in addition to receiving feedback fromcustomers. Vendors also want to ensure that any reviews provided fortheir services are based on actual work they have performed andcompleted, with an emphasis on receiving feedback as soon as the work iscompleted.

Accordingly, there is a need for a system that can provide payment tovendors and obtain feedback from customers with a minimal amount ofeffort by all parties involved.

SUMMARY OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method isprovided that allows a vendor to retrieve payment for services renderedwhile simultaneously transmitting an e-mail message to the customer witha link to a review. In one embodiment, the method includes detecting apayment request from a vendor; generating a review based on the paymentrequest; and, transmitting a reference to the review to a customer,wherein the reference provides a link to retrieve the review.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a computer readablemedium having a computer readable program code contained therein forconducting a review includes computer readable program code fordetecting a payment request from a vendor. The computer readable mediumalso includes computer readable program code for generating a reviewbased on the payment request; and, computer readable program code fortransmitting a reference to the review to a customer, wherein thereference provides a link to retrieve the review.

In another embodiment, the present invention is implemented in a reviewsystem having a processor and a memory coupled to the processor. Thememory includes a vendor application and a customer application, whereinthe vendor application is configured to receive a payment request from avendor, and the customer application is configured to generate a reviewbased on the payment request and transmit a reference to the review to acustomer

Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription. It is to be understood, however, that the detaileddescription and specific examples, while indicating preferredembodiments of the present invention, are given by way of illustrationand not limitation. Many changes and modifications within the scope ofthe present invention may be made without departing from the spiritthereof, and the invention includes all such modifications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may be more readily understood by referring to theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating the process of a customer orderingservices using an online marketplace in accordance with one embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating the process of a vendor accessingand retrieving job information using the online marketplace inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating the process of the vendorretrieving payment using the online marketplace after providing servicesto the customer in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating the process of the onlinemarketplace effecting a payment to the vendor in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating the process of the onlinemarketplace sending out a message to the customer with a link to areview in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating the process of the customer usingthe online marketplace to retrieve the review referenced in the linksent in the process illustrated by FIG. 5.

FIGS. 7 a-7 g are screen shots of a user interface for the customer toplace service requests.

FIGS. 8 a-8 d are screen shots of a user interface for the vendor toaccess the vendor's account.

FIGS. 9 a-9 b are screen shots of a user interface for the vendorretrieving payment for the vendor's services.

FIGS. 10 a-10 b are screen shots of a user interface for the customerretrieving the review.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of thedrawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention provides a mechanism in a online marketplace for aservice provider (“vendor”), who has provided service to a customer thathas pre-paid for those services, to retrieve those funds from an“escrow” account. The vendor retrieves the funds based on a payment codethat the customer gives to the vendor upon completion of the provisionof the services. Once the payment code is entered, the vendor is paidand, simultaneously, the customer is e-mailed a link to a review form toprovide feedback for the vendor. In one embodiment of the presentinvention, the link is a Universal Resource Locator (URL) to a web pageon a website such as emove.com. When the customer clicks on the web pagelink in the review form, the customer will be taken to the website wherethe customer can provide feedback about the vendor (without having tofirst login to the website). Once the customer has submitted feedback,the customer will be credited with a refund of transaction fees chargedby the online marketplace.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating the process for a customer torequest service be provided by a vendor, in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. The provision of the service isreferred to as a “job” generally. In the presented example, the customerdesires to contract for moving services to move furniture and boxes at alocation in Grafton, N. Dak. As will be apparent from the descriptioncontained herein, the system in the example applies to other types ofservices, whether or not they are related to moving services. Forexample, services including, but not limited to, plumbing services,painting services, cleaning services, and gardening services, may becontracted for using the system.

In step 102, the customer enters the general geographical area(s) wherethe service, or job, is to be performed. The system uses thisinformation to select from a list of vendors that provide services inthe entered geographical area(s) to be displayed, as discussed below.FIG. 7 a is a window displaying that the customer has entered “Grafton”in the “City:” field, and “ND” in the “State:” field, in the “MovingFrom:” section, indicating that the customer is requesting movingservices only within the Grafton, N. Dak. region. The customer proceedsto the next step by clicking on the “LET'S GET STARTED” button, andoperation continues with step 104.

In step 104, the customer enters the date on which the service is to beprovided, and the type(s) of service desired. FIG. 7 b illustrates twoservices typically associated with moving help: loading/unloading helpand driving help. In one embodiment, the services listed are based onpreviously defined categories of services. In another embodiment, theservices listed include all the services offered by the vendors in thegeneral geographical area previously entered by the customer. Thecustomer can then proceed to the next step of the process as shown inFIG. 7 b and subsequent figures by clicking on the “NEXT STEP” button.

In step 106, the system displays the vendors matched by the system thatprovide loading/unloading service in the Grafton, N. Dak. area. FIG. 7 cillustrates a window that lists two service providers: “Jane's Help” and“One Helpful Guy”, with rating information based on evaluations thathave been previously submitted by other customers. The customer mayreceive more information by selecting the “more info . . . ” link, andread the received reviews for each vendor by selecting the “reviews . .. ” link for the appropriate vendor. In the example shown in FIG. 7 c,the customer has selected “Jane's Help” as the vendor to which thecustomer wishes to submit a request for moving help.

In step 108, the customer is presented with a legal agreement outliningthe terms and conditions under which access to the system is beingprovided for the customer to engage the services of the vendor. Inanother embodiment, the terms and conditions may also include the termsand condition for the selected vendor. FIG. 7 d illustrates a windowwith a summary of the terms and condition for emove.com, with a “useragreement” link for the customer to retrieve a detailed version of theterms and conditions. Operation continues with step 110 when thecustomer clicks on the “I AGREE” button.

In step 110, the customer enters detailed job information, including thespecific address where the service is to be provided, including the zipcode; a phone number; the number of hours of service desired; and anelaboration of the service being requested. The customer may alsoprovide other details, including but not limited to a preferred time ofday for the provision of the service; major cross-street of thelocation; and other special needs or information. FIG. 7 e illustratesan exemplary window where the customer has entered the address of “123N. Nowhere Ave.”; a zip code of “12345”; a phone number of“555-555-1234”; a description of “Moving furniture and boxes”; and adesired time period of “3” hours.

In step 112, the customer is presented with a summary of the order toverify the details of the job and also requested to enter billinginformation. FIG. 7 f illustrates a window where the customer hasentered his name (“John Doe”); address (“123 N. Nowhere Ave., Grafton,N. Dak., 12345”; e-mail address (“jdoe@mail.com”); payment (“Visa”);card number (“1111-1111-1111-1111”); and expiration date of the creditcard (“January 2004”). The customer places the order by clicking on the“PLACE ORDER” button. The sequence contained in steps 102 to 112illustrates one way for the system to receive a job request from acustomer. For example, more or less information may be requested by thesystem depending on whether more or less screens, respectively, ispresented to the customer.

In step 114, the system presents the customer with a confirmation of thejob request and other pertinent information, including instructions toprovide the vendor with a payment code that will allow the vendor toretrieve remuneration, as described below, once the job has beencompleted. In addition, the vendor is contacted with notification that anew job request has been received for the vendor's services. Forexample, an e-mail informing the vendor that a new job request for thevendor's services has been received may be sent to the vendor. FIG. 7 gillustrates a sample confirmation window, displaying the payment codeand the payment mechanism with which the customer will be charged whenthe vendor accepts the job request. In another embodiment, the customeris not presented with a payment code nor is the customer charged anyfees until the vendor has accepted the job request. In yet anotherembodiment, the customer may be charged a fee as a deposit before thejob request is presented to the selected vendor.

The contents of an exemplary e-mail that may be sent to a vendornotifying the vendor of a job request is as follows:

To: jane@jmh.com From: serviceprovider@emove.com Subject: You have aneMove job. Respond within 24 hours. Body: A customer has requestedservice from you. Job # 47690 Load or Unload Help 2-man crew - we can dothe whole load/unload for you! Where & When: Grafton, ND 12345 3 hour onWednesday, December 25, 2002 Customer notes: Move furniture and boxes.Accept this job: http://serviceprovider.emove.com/acceptjob?id=47690&vid=232&email=jane@jmh.com Reject this job:http://serviceprovider.emove.com/rejectjob?id=47690&vid=232&email=jane@jmh.com ... or go tohttp://www.emove.com/serviceprovider and choose to either accept orreject this job. If you accept this job, it will be scheduled and youwill be given more details. If you do not accept it within 24 hours, itwill be counted as a rejection. Rejecting too many jobs will result inbad karma! Regards, eMove Moving Help End

As shown in the text above, the e-mail is sent to the vendor fromemove.com, with links for the vendor to accept(“http://serviceprovider.emove.com/acceptjob?id=47690&vid=232&email=jane@jmh.com”)or reject(“http://serviceprovider.emove.com/rejectjob?id=47690&vid=232&email=jane@jmh.com”)the job request without having to login to the emove.com website. Assuggested in the text of the e-mail, and as described below, the vendormay also view and accept the job on the website once the vendor accessesthe vendor's account.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating the process for the vendor to accessthe vendor's account and retrieve job information, including acceptingor denying new job requests, viewing currently scheduled jobs, viewingthe vendor's ratings, or requesting payment for completed jobs,according to one embodiment of the present invention.

In step 202, the vendor logs onto the website. FIG. 8 a illustrates awindow where the vender provides his login information, including a useridentifier (“Email address”) and a password (“Password”), and submitsthat information for validation to enter the site by clicking on the“SIGN IN” button. If a vendor has not previously signed-up as a serviceprovider for emove.com, then the vendor can select the “Sign up for anaccount” link to create a new account.

In step 204, the vendor has successfully logged onto the website and ispresented with the vendor's account information. FIG. 8 b illustratesthe window that is displayed to the vendor after the vendor has loggedin. The display includes any new job requests the vendor has received(“New work requests”), which in this case is job #47690; any scheduledjobs to which the vendor has agreed to provide service (e.g., job#47587), and a link to a list of jobs that the vendor has completed(“Completed jobs”). The display also provides a summary of each of thejobs.

The display shown in FIG. 8 b also includes a summary of the vendor'scurrent rating based on comments and feedback received from customersfor which the vendor has previously provided services, including agraphic that displays the numerical summary rating using stars. In theexample, as part of a customer's feedback, the customer may award avendor a numerical rating ranging from “1” to “5,” with a rating of 1being the worst rating and the rating of 5 being the best rating. Thesystem will use an average of the numerical ratings of all customerresponses to produce the number shown in the display. A link to the listof comments is also shown (“View comments . . . ”).

Continuing to refer to FIG. 8 b, and specifically the “New workrequests” section listing a new job #47690 that was previously enteredby the customer, the vendor can choose to accept or deny the new jobrequest by clicking on the “Accept” or “Reject” buttons, respectively.If the vendor accepts the job request, the customer is sent an e-mail.If the vendor rejects the job request, the customer will receive ane-mail with a message that the vendor has rejected the service request.The customer may then be provided with a link in the e-mail to godirectly to the service provider selection page—i.e., FIG. 7 c, tochoose a new vendor to whom the customer will submit a service request.

The contents of an exemplary e-mail sent to the customer when the vendoraccepts the job request is as follows:

To: jdoe@mail.com From: movinghelp@emove.com Subject: Load or UnloadHelp for 12/25/02 has been accepted Body:****************************************************** Please do notreply directly to this message - use the contact information below.****************************************************** Dear John, Jane'sHelp is happy to accept your request for Load or Unload Help onWednesday, December 25, 2002. Please note that you have now pre-paid for3 hours of our service and eMove has charged $110.00 on your card forthis job. We look forward to discussing your needs in more detail. Ifyou do not hear from us within 24 hours, please call us at the phonenumber below. After the service is completed to your satisfaction, wewill need the Payment Code that appears below from you to make sure weare paid for this work. ---------------------------- *** Payment Code:818826 *** ---------------------------- Critical Information: - Do notgive the Payment Code out until after the job is completed. - There willbe no need to pay with cash or check, unless you exceed the amount ofpre-paid service. - If you have further questions about the Moving Helpprocess, please go to http://www.emove.com/mh/faq.html - Questions thatwe can't answer should be directed to customersupport@emove.com (includethe job number, which is #47690) Thanks for choosing us as your serviceprovider. We look forward to serving you. Regards, Jane Juniper Jane'sMoving Help Contact info: Phone: 555-555-4321 Email: jane@jmh.com ***This email has been sent to you from eMove Moving Help on behalf ofJane's Help. *** End

As shown in the text above, the e-mail is sent to the customer fromemove.com on behalf of the vendor, with contact information for thevendor listed at the end of the e-mail, which allows vendors that do nothave electronic mail capabilities to provide services as the systemsends the e-mails for coordinating the transaction. In this case,however, the vendor is contactable by e-mail.

The e-mail also notifies the customer that the customer has now pre-paidfor the services as a vendor has accepted the job request. The funds areheld in escrow pending completion of the scheduled job, and will beretrieved by the vendor using the payment code as described herein.Thus, practically, the customer has prepaid for the services, with thefunds provided by the customer being held by emove.com until proof ofthe being completed is received.

Returning to FIG. 2, in step 206, the vendor accepts the new job requestfor job #47690 and is presented with a confirmation of the job beingscheduled for performance by the vendor. FIG. 8 c illustrates anexemplary window displayed to the vendor listing the details of job#47690, which contains information previously entered by thecustomer—i.e., FIGS. 7 a-7 g. As further discussed herein, this displayis also where the vendor will enter the payment code provided by thecustomer once the vendor has performed the services for which the vendoris contracted.

In optional step 208, the vendor is presented with an updated accountdisplay with the now accepted job request for job #47690 being listedunder the “Scheduled jobs” section. FIG. 8 d illustrates the updatedaccount display for the vendor. Listed along each job is a link to thedetailed information for the job (“View”), which the vendor can accessto retrieved detailed information—such as the one shown in FIG. 8 c.

Upon the scheduled day(s) of the service, the vendor performs thecontracted for service and, upon completion of the job, the customerprovides the vendor with the payment code. In this example, as containedin the above e-mail, the payment code is “818826.” Once the vendorreceives the payment code from the customer, remuneration may beretrieved by the vendor by going to the emove.com website. As describedbelow, the present invention provides for “simultaneous” paymentretrieval by the vendor and transmittal of a review request to thecustomer.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating the process for payment retrieval bythe vendor and transmission of the link to the review being sent to thecustomer in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Asdescribed, this process occurs when the vendor has completed the job forthe user and the user has provided the vendor with a payment code. Thevendor is then ready to retrieve the funds associated with the paymentcode.

In step 302, the vendor logs onto the website and selects the job forwhich the vendor desires to receive remuneration by selecting on the“View” link for the appropriate job (e.g., job #47690) in FIG. 8 d. Thelogin process is described above in relation to FIG. 8 a and the displayof the (scheduled) jobs for which the vendor may enter payment isdescribed above in relation to FIGS. 8 b and 8 c.

Once the vendor has navigated to the job detail screen as shown in FIG.8 c, the vendor may enter the payment code and then clicks on the “GETPAID” button to submit the code. In FIG. 9 a, the vendor has entered thepayment code (“818826”).

In step 306, once the payment code is verified, the system transfers thefunds to the vendor. As shown in FIG. 9 b, the vendor has previouslyindicated that the preferred payment method for the vendor is anelectronic payment system provided by PayPal, Inc. In addition, asfurther detailed below, the system transmits a link to a review requestfor the job to the customer in an e-mail.

FIG. 4 illustrates the process under which the vendor is sent payment inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention, where, in step402, the system detects that the vendor is requesting payment based onthe submission of the payment code. In step 404, the system determinesthe preferred payment method as previously selected by the vendor, whichmay include, but is not limited to, electronic payment systems such asPayPal, Inc.; electronic fund transfers to the vendor's bank account; ora payment to a credit card account of the vendor. It is to be noted thatthe payment may be made in a variety of mechanisms. Once the paymentmechanism has been determined, the system effects payment in step 406.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating the process of the system sending ane-mail to the customer once the vendor has requested payment inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention, where, startingin step 502, it is detected that the vendor has retrieved payment usingthe payment code for the job. In step 504, it is determined whether thejob has been completed, and operation proceeds with step 506 if the jobhas been completed. In step 506, it is determined whether the job isunreviewed, and operation proceeds with step 508 if the job has not beenreviewed. If it is determined that the job is not completed (step 504)or if it is determined that a review has already been submitted for thejob associated with the payment code (step 506), operation will end andno message will be sent to the customer.

In step 508, if the job is completed and no review has been submittedfor the job, then, in the preferred embodiment, the system willconstruct and transmit an e-mail to the customer with a link to a reviewfor reviewing the vendor with respect to the particular job. The systemchecks for these conditions to prevent a customer from completing areview if the customer has already submitted a review for the job; or ifthe job has not been “completed,” with the definition of a job beingcompleted being equated to the vendor retrieving payment. In anotherembodiment, the review may be sent to the customer in the body of thee-mail, in which case the e-mail contains code that allow an e-mailreader program to retrieve and display the review automatically. Forexample, the e-mail may contain hypertext markup language (HTML) codethat references and displays the review. As defined by the presentinvention, there is no distinction made between code that “references”the review and code that displays the review. Thus, the code for thelink to the review could include the code to display the review itself,such that there would be no need to retrieve any further data from thesystem to display the review.

The contents of an exemplary e-mail message sent to the customer fromemove.com is shown below:

To: jdoe@mail.com From: movinghelp@emove.com Subject: Get an eMoveautomatic refund - your comments wanted! Body: Thank you for using eMoveMoving Help. Your Service Provider has been paid. Moving families wantto hear about your Load or Unload Help experience with Jane's Help. Thetransaction fee of $3.95 will automatically be refunded to your creditcard upon your rating. It takes only 30 seconds! To rate Jane's Help,click on the link below or cut and paste it into your Web browser:http://movinghelp.emove.com/ratejob?cid=90542-12345&email=jdoe@mail.com&id=47690 To view a receipt of your Moving Helporder, go to: http://movinghelp.emove.com/receipt?cid=90542-12345&email=jdoe@mail.com&id=90542 Regards, eMove Moving Helpwww.emove.com End

In the e-mail message shown above, the link to access the review(“http://movinghelp.emove.com/ratejob?cid=90456-12345&email=gct@jmbm.com&id=47690”)includes the customer identifier (“cid=90456-12345”), which includes theorder number (“90456”) and zip code of the customer (“12345”); thee-mail address of the customer (“e-mail=jdoe@mail.com”); and theidentifier of the job for which the review that is to be retrieved isassociated (“id=47690”). The e-mail message also include the link toview a receipt of the job(“http://movinghelp.emove.com/receipt?cid=90542-12345&email=jdoe@mail.com&id=90542”)includes the same information as the link to access the review, with thedifference that the identifier relates to the order number versus thejob number. A sample receipt is shown in FIG. 7 g, which is discussedabove. It should be noted that the link to the review may be of variousforms, and is not limited to the specific format or type of the uniformresource locator (URL) shown above.

The present invention, by immediately contacting the customer as soon asthe vendor retrieves payment for the vendor's services, provides for themaximum likelihood that the customer will submit a review for theservice provided by the vendor. The inclusion of a direct link to thereview form, without the need for the customer to login (i.e., enter ausername and password), locate, and then retrieve the review for theparticular job that was performed, reduces the number of operations thatthe user must engage in to provide feedback down to a single click onthe link to the review. Also, as discussed herein, there is a financialincentive for the user to provide feedback. Other incentives, financialor otherwise, may be presented to the customer and the particular formof compensation should be not limited to the ones described herein.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating the process where the customer isretrieving the review using the link provided in the e-mail. In step602, the system detects a request by the customer to retrieve thereview. Based on this request, a series of conditions are tested beforethe review is transmitted. In the embodiment where the e-mail sent tothe customer contains the actual review, the conditions are testedbefore the customer's response to the review is accepted. These checksare necessary as a review should only be sent to the customer (or theresponse to the review accepted) if a job has been completed by thevendor (based on detection of the payment request), and if no evaluationhas been previously completed by the customer.

It is first determined in step 604 whether the job associated with thereview requested by the customer has been cancelled, thereby making anyresults of the review inapplicable. If the job has not been cancelled,operation continues with step 606, where it is determined if the job isactually pending and not a “completed” job. If the job is determined tonot be still pending, operation continues with step 608, where it isdetermined if payment has been retrieved by the vendor. If the paymenthas been retrieved, then operation continues with step 610, where it isdetermined if a review has already been submitted for the job associatedwith the review. If the job has been paid, operation continues with step612, where the review is presented to the customer. In the embodimentwhere the review has been previously transmitted, the response to thereview is accepted at this point.

If at anytime none of the conditions described above are met such thatsending the review (or receiving the response to the review) is valid(e.g., sending a review or receiving the response for a job that wasnever completed), the system will proceed with step 614, where therequest to retrieve the review (or to send the response) is denied. Thesystem may display an error message with the reason the review is notbeing transmitted (or the response is not being accepted).

FIG. 10 a illustrates a window displaying a review configured in oneembodiment of the present invention, where a customer may providefeedback by assigning a numerical rating to the vendor as well asprovide written comments. The review also inquires as to how many hoursout of the total of the contracted order was actually performed. Whenthe customer has completed the review, the customer may click on the“submit” button to submit the feedback. In the example that is provided,the customer may assign a rating between 1 (lowest rating) and 5(highest rating).

Once the response to the review is received from the customer, thevendor's rating information is updated. In addition, the refundableorder handling fee is refunded to the customer, preferably using thesame payment mechanism with which the customer originally paid for theservices. For example, if the customer paid for the services with acredit card, the refund would be applied to the same credit card. FIG.10 b illustrates the window displaying a “Thank You” message to thecustomer once the review has been submitted by the customer.

Other actions may be generated by the system based on the ratingsreceived in the review from the customer. For example, if there is anunusually low rating given by the customer, an e-mail may be sent to thecustomer service department of the company operating the marketplace(i.e., e-move.com) to follow-up with the customer, as well as an e-mailto the vendor notifying them of the low rating and encouraging thevendor to follow-up with the customer as well. Conversely, a high ratingwould warrant a congratulatory e-mail to the vendor from the companyoperating the marketplace.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an online marketplace application inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention, which issoftware executing on an emove.com computer server. An onlinemarketplace application 1102 contains four primary software components:a customer application 1104, a vendor application 1106, anadministrative application 1108, and an underlying layer 1110. Customerapplication 1104 allows the customer to navigate through the marketplacewith the functionality of the processes described in FIGS. 1, 5 and 6and provides the customer interface as described above in FIGS. 7 a-7 g,and 10 a-10 b. Thus, customer application 1104 provides thefunctionality of selecting and paying for a service from a particularvendor; and after the service is completed, customer application 1104provides the functionality for accepting feedback and comments from thecustomer regarding the vendor. It also allows a customer to review thetransactions that have been paid for before and after a job iscompleted.

Vendor application 1106 provides functionality for vendors to completenecessary tasks such as those described in FIGS. 2-4 for the onlinemarketplace. Initially, vendor application 1106 processes vendors beingadded to the lists maintained by the host. Vendor application 1106handles the login process for vendors entering the marketplace andprocesses payment codes entered by a vendor to transfer money from anescrow account to the vendor's account. Vendor application 1106 alsoprocesses scheduling services for the vendors and provides schedules tovendors. Vendor application 1106 provides the user interfaces describein FIGS. 8 a-8 c and 9 a-9 b.

Administrative application 1108 allows an administrator of the onlinemarketplace to oversee the entire application and perform basicadministrative functions. A few examples of this include assigning aparticular city to a service area or adding a new category of servicesto the services offered in the marketplace. It also allows anadministrator to access data for analysis and creating statistics oncustomer behavior. Underlying layer 1110 provides the groundwork orfoundation for the applications to function. For example, it maps thedatabase containing vendor and customer information, needed by theapplications to operate, and determines the overall look and feel of theonline marketplace system.

Although the description of the invention is directed to vendorsprimarily as “service” providers, the mechanisms described above applyto vendors providing “goods” in addition to or instead of services.Thus, the “job” number would be related to a particular purchase ofgoods and the time would be related to the time of delivery.

Moreover, it is to be noted that although the description containedherein describes an exemplary series of steps executed in a particularorder in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, thesequence of operations may be altered or certain steps may be combinedor cancelled in other embodiments of the present invention. Further,certain steps may be further divided in these other embodiments.

The system may also be implemented using a variety of technologies otherthan the client-server web system described herein. For example, thesystem may be implemented using a telephone system, where vendors mayreview job requests; respond to job requests; request payments; retrievetheir customer provided ratings and feedback; and otherwise perform thesame types of vendor operations using a telephone system as would beperformed using the emove.com website. In addition, customers mayreceive a listing of vendors; review and select vendors for jobrequests; provide payment information; revise/review job requests;provide feedback and review for a completed job; and otherwise performthe same types of customer operations using a telephone system as wouldbe performed using the emove.com website.

The embodiments described above are exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention. Those skilled in the art may now make numerous uses of, anddepartures from, the above-described embodiments without departing fromthe inventive concepts disclosed herein. Accordingly, the presentinvention is to be defined solely by the scope of the following claims.

1. A method for conducting a review comprising the steps of: detecting apayment request from a vendor; generating a review based on the paymentrequest; and, transmitting a reference to the review to a customer;wherein the reference provides a link to retrieve the review.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, where the step of detecting the payment request fromthe vendor comprises the step of receiving a payment code from thevendor, the payment code being related to a particular job number. 3.The method of claim 1, where the step of transmitting the reference tothe review to the customer comprises the steps of: creating anelectronic mail message addressed to the customer, the reference to thereview contained in the electronic mail message; and, transmitting theelectronic mail message.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprisingthe steps of: detecting a request to retrieve the review by thecustomer; and, transmitting the review.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherethe step of transmitting the review comprises the steps of: determiningthe status of a job related to the review before transmitting thereview; and, transmitting the review if the status meets a firstcondition.
 6. The method of claim 5, where the first condition isrelated to the job being completed.
 7. The method of claim 5, where thefirst condition is related to the job being unreviewed.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising the steps of. detecting a response to thereview; and, updating a vendor feedback record based on the response. 9.The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of. detecting aresponse to the review; and, crediting the customer with a predeterminedamount based on detecting the response to the review.
 10. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the predetermined amount is an amount that waspreviously paid by the customer.
 11. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising the steps of: detecting a response to the review; and,generating a notification based on the response.
 12. The method of claim1, further comprising the steps of: receiving a job request from thecustomer; and, notifying the vendor of the job request with a referenceto respond to the job request.
 13. The method of claim 12, where thereference to respond to the job request includes a link to accept thejob request.
 14. The method of claim 12, where the reference to respondto the job request includes a link to reject the job request.
 15. Themethod of claim 12, further comprising the steps of: receiving aresponse to the job request from the vendor; and, generating anotification based on the response.
 16. The method of claim 15, where ifthe response is a rejection of the job request, then the notificationcontains a reference for the customer to submit a new job request with asecond vendor.
 17. The method of claim 15, where if the response is anacceptance of the job request, then updating a schedule with the job.18. A computer readable medium having a computer readable program codecontained therein for conducting a review, the computer readable programcode comprising: computer readable program code for detecting a paymentrequest from a vendor; computer readable program code for generating areview based on the payment request; and, computer readable program codefor transmitting a reference to the review to a customer; wherein thereference provides a link to retrieve the review.
 19. The computerreadable medium of claim 18, where the computer readable program codecontained therein for detecting the payment request from the vendorcomprises computer readable program code for receiving a payment codefrom the vendor, the payment code being related to a particular jobnumber.
 20. The computer readable medium of claim 18, where the computerreadable program code contained therein for transmitting the referenceto the review to the customer comprises: computer readable program codefor creating an electronic mail message addressed to the customer, thereference to the review contained in the electronic mail message; and,computer readable program code for transmitting the electronic mailmessage.
 21. The computer readable medium of claim 18, where thecomputer readable program code contained therein further comprising:computer readable program code for detecting a request to retrieve thereview by the customer; and, computer readable program code fortransmitting the review.
 22. The computer readable medium of claim 21,where the computer readable program code contained therein fortransmitting the review comprises: computer readable program code fordetermining the status of a job related to the review beforetransmitting the review; and, computer readable program code fortransmitting the review if the status meets a first condition.
 23. Thecomputer readable medium of claim 22, where the first condition isrelated to the job being completed.
 24. The computer readable medium ofclaim 22, where the first condition is related to the job beingunreviewed.
 25. The computer readable medium of claim 18, where thecomputer readable program code contained therein for conducting thereview further comprising: computer readable program code for detectinga response to the review; and, computer readable program code forupdating a vendor feedback record based on the response.
 26. Thecomputer readable medium of claim 18, where the computer readableprogram code contained therein for conducting the review furthercomprising: computer readable program code for detecting a response tothe review; and, computer readable program code for crediting thecustomer with a predetermined amount based on detecting the response tothe review.
 27. The computer readable medium of claim 26, wherein thepredetermined amount is an amount that was previously paid by thecustomer.
 28. The computer readable medium of claim 18, where thecomputer readable program code contained therein for conducting thereview further comprising: computer readable program code for detectinga response to the review; and, computer readable program code forgenerating a notification based on the response.
 29. The computerreadable medium of claim 18, where the computer readable program codecontained therein for conducting the review further comprising: computerreadable program code for receiving a job request from the customer;and, computer readable program code for notifying the vendor of the jobrequest with a reference to respond to the job request.
 30. The computerreadable medium of claim 29, where the reference to respond to the jobrequest includes a link to accept the job request.
 31. The computerreadable medium of claim 29, where the reference to respond to the jobrequest includes a link to reject the job request.
 32. The computerreadable medium of claim 29, further comprising: computer readableprogram code for receiving a response to the job request from thevendor; and, computer readable program code for generating anotification based on the response.
 33. The computer readable medium ofclaim 32, where if the response is a rejection of the job request, thenthe notification contains a reference for the customer to submit a newjob request with a second vendor.
 34. The computer readable medium ofclaim 32, where if the response is an acceptance of the job request,then the computer readable medium further comprising computer readableprogram code for updating a schedule with the job.
 35. A review systemcomprising: a processor; and, a memory coupled to the processor, thememory comprising: a vendor application; and, a customer application;wherein the vendor application is configured to receive a paymentrequest from a vendor, and the customer application is configured togenerate a review based on the payment request and transmit a referenceto the review to a customer.
 36. The review system of claim 29, thememory further comprising an underlying layer configured to connect thevendor application and the customer application to a database.
 37. Thereview system of claim 29, wherein the vendor application is furtherconfigured to receive a payment code from the vendor, the payment codebeing related to a particular job number.
 38. The review system of claim29, wherein the processor is coupled to a network, and the customerapplication is further configured to send an electronic mail message tothe customer enclosing the reference to the review using the network.39. The review system of claim 29, wherein the customer application isfurther configured to transmit the review to the customer when a requestfor the review is detected from the customer.
 40. The review system ofclaim 39, wherein the customer application is further configured to nottransmit the review to the customer if a first condition is not met. 41.The review system of claim 40, where the first condition is not met whena job related to the payment request is not completed.
 42. The reviewsystem of claim 33, where the first condition is related to the jobbeing unreviewed.
 43. The review system of claim 29, wherein thecustomer application is further configured to detect a response to thereview, and update a vendor rating based on the response.
 44. The reviewsystem of claim 29, wherein the customer application is furtherconfigured to detect a response to the review, and credit the customerwith a predetermined amount based on detecting the response to thereview.
 45. The review system of claim 29, wherein the predeterminedamount is an amount that was previously paid by the customer.
 46. Thereview system of claim 35, further comprising the steps of: the customerapplication configured to receive a job request from the customer; and,the vendor application configured to notify the vendor of the jobrequest with a reference to respond to the job request.
 47. The reviewsystem of claim 46, where the reference to respond to the job requestincludes a link to accept the job request.
 48. The review system ofclaim 46, where the reference to respond to the job request includes alink to reject the job request.
 49. The review system of claim 46, wherethe vendor application is further configured to: receive a response tothe job request from the vendor; and, generate a notification based onthe response.
 50. The review system of claim 49, where if the responseis a rejection of the job request, then the notification contains areference for the customer to submit a new job request with a secondvendor.
 51. The review system of claim 49, where if the response is anacceptance of the job request, then the vendor application is furtherconfigured to update a schedule with the job.